Fall From Grace

by Wendy Soliman

  Jake stood also, pulled her back into his arms for another passionate kiss and then released her with apparent reluctance.

  ‘That won’t take long,’ he said. ‘It’s impossible to improve upon perfection.’

  ***

  Jake felt the relief of a burden shared as he went in search of Parker. He found him in the kitchen, giving Franklin his orders.

  ‘Any problems here, Franklin?’ he asked. ‘Any strangers loitering about outside to excite your interest?’

  ‘No one that I’ve observed, my lord. I’m convinced that none of Lady Cantrell’s enemies are aware that she is staying here.’

  ‘Be that as it may, the connection will be made sooner rather than later,’ Jake replied, ‘so be vigilant. If Lord Charles was followed to Lady Cantrell’s previous lodgings he can just as easily be followed here.’

  ‘No one will get to her ladyship on my watch,’ Franklin said with assurance.

  ‘Good man!’ Jake clapped his shoulder. ‘Right, you’d best get off to make contact with Parker’s men and follow Faulk to his meeting. Don’t lose the person he meets with if you can possibly help it.’

  ‘I will do my level best, my lord.’

  ‘How did Olivia take the news?’ Parker asked as soon as Franklin left them.

  ‘Just as you predicted,’ Jake replied. ‘She has suggested that we show ourselves to society in general and Miranda in particular at Lady Garmin’s ball.’

  Parker roared with laughter. ‘She’s got spirit, I’ll give her that.’

  Jake had not long returned to the drawing room before Charles was shown into it by Green. The two men shook hands and Green poured whisky for them both before withdrawing. Before Jake could ask how he had fared that day, Olivia and Lady Cantrell joined them. Olivia wore turquoise silk and looked, as always, elegant and sophisticated. Lady Cantrell wore another black evening gown and appeared composed as greetings were exchanged and the ladies seated themselves.

  ‘We are all anxious to hear what if anything you learned today, Charles,’ Jake said when the ladies had been served with peach ratafia.

  ‘Then I shall relieve your anxiety,’ he replied with a smile that lingered upon Lady Cantrell for a little too long. ‘I am sorry if what I have to say oversets you, but I suspect you would prefer to know the truth.’

  ‘I would greatly prefer it,’ she assured him, sitting forward expectantly.

  ‘The accident that killed Luke was not as straightforward as you have been led to believe,’ Charles said gently, going on to explain that Luke and the agent had been separated from the rest of the party and that shots were heard before the shouts. ‘I’m so very sorry, my dear, but it sounds as though Luke might have been deliberately lured away so that an accident could be contrived.’

  ‘But why?’ Lady Cantrell asked, looking pale and shocked. Olivia, seated beside her, covered her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Who would want to‒’

  ‘There’s more, I’m afraid. The agent who acts for Fordham’s family also works with your father. Did you ever meet him?’

  Lady Cantrell shook her head. ‘Papa kept me away from his business affairs. He said it was not ladylike to involve myself.’

  Jake was struck by the extent that Mardon had tried to turn his middle-class daughter into a lady, yet was adamantly opposed to her marriage to an eligible earl whose position in society would have ensured that transformation.

  ‘Did the agent’s name mean anything to you?’ Olivia asked.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Charles replied grimly.

  Even Jake couldn’t suppress his surprise when the connection to Warburton was explained.

  ‘His illegitimate son acted for him, the Raja, your friend Fordham and in conjunction with Mardon,’ Jake said, looking at Charles. ‘It seems we get to the heart of the matter. Mardon worked with Warburton’s base-born son with the expectation of your marrying his heir.’ He glanced at Lady Cantrell this time. ‘I wish I knew what game he thought he was playing.’

  ‘I am at a loss to understand it myself,’ Lady Cantrell said, a wild and bewildered look in her eye.

  ‘We must assume that the Raja and Warburton have a monopoly upon trade in the Goa area and that anyone wishing to involve themselves must work through them,’ Olivia said.

  ‘So it seems,’ Jake agreed.

  ‘My source at the Company’s headquarters has not heard anything about your father, Megan,’ Charles told her, ‘which is good news. If anything had happened to him, the Company would probably know about it.’

  Jake sensed there was something more that Charles had to tell them but that he would prefer not to mention it in Lady Cantrell’s presence. Obligingly, Green materialised to announce that dinner was served. The four of them made their way to the dining parlour and the conversation became more general during the course of their repast. Even so, the tension was palpable. Lady Cantrell, Jake noticed, pushed her food around her plate and barely ate a thing.

  It was only when Jake and Charles were left alone to savour their port that Charles revealed what he had not told Lady Cantrell.

  ‘All along, I’ve fail to understand how Mardon could force Warburton’s legitimate son to marry Megan,’ he said. ‘Especially since I have it on the best authority that he prefers his own sex.’

  ‘Ah.’

  ‘I was told to think railways.’ Charles spread his hands. ‘It makes no sense.’

  ‘There has been talk of a railway system in India for ten years now,’ Jake replied. ‘The Governor General realised that the interests of bankers, traders and shipping companies both at home and in India would profit from the speed to be had from that means of transport. There were experiments in western India that didn’t go well, if memory serves.’ Jake frowned with the effort of recollection. ‘Freak accidents, or perhaps sabotage…’

  ‘But any Raja or well-placed nabob already in India, in a part of the country that hasn’t yet seen rail experiments…’

  ‘Such as Goa in the east?’

  ‘Precisely so.’ Charles topped off his glass and passed the decanter to Jake. ‘I seem to recall that the original effort in the west was funded by private companies that were promised a guaranteed five per cent return annually on investment from…’ He paused and stared directly at Jake. ‘From the British East India Company.’

  ‘The Raja and Warburton between them have a stranglehold on Goa,’ Jake said pensively. ‘It would be the ultimate accolade for the Raja if he was responsible for the first accident-free commercial railway line in India.’

  ‘And it would also spell financial security for Warburton. Since money appears to be his only interest, it’s easy to understand his enthusiasm for the scheme.’ Jake paused to rub thoughtfully at his chin. ‘But the question remains, what part is Lady Cantrell’s father playing in the scheme? It must be an important role, or Warburton wouldn’t have promised his son to a comparatively unimportant lady of Megan’s status.’

  ‘If Warburton’s son isn’t interested in women, I don’t suppose it would make much difference to him whom he married.’ Charles flashed a speculative smile. ‘I wonder if the father knows of the son’s predilections, or cares about them if he does. He probably just wants to maintain appearances.’

  ‘If Warburton and the Raja were intent upon setting up the railway and required Mardon’s involvement, I would imagine that the daughter’s marriage to Luke would have proved a stumbling block.’

  ‘One which was removed by a convenient accident.’

  Jake nodded. ‘I would agree with you, but for the fact that the father has not reappeared to console his daughter and push her, after a respectable period, in the direction that he wants her to take.’

  ‘Perhaps something is preventing him.’ Charles leaned his elbow on the table and cupped his chin in his splayed hand. ‘I have not disregarded the possibility that he might well be dead, even if the Company has not received notification of that death. There are a hundred ways for a man to die in India and for his bo
dy never to be found.’

  ‘It’s odd that the people he was travelling with have not been seen either. That’s what makes me think they are probably all still alive somewhere.’

  ‘It’s deuced convoluted,’ Charles said on a frustrated sigh. ‘We must be overlooking something obvious.’

  ‘I think we are agreed that our friend Luke Cantrell was murdered,’ Jake said, his expression grim. ‘We simply have to decide why, and more to the point by whom. I could easily suspect Arabella’s hand. She inherited her mother’s top-lofty character and would consider your Megan to have brought shame upon the family. I wouldn’t put anything past her but, as far as I am aware, neither she nor her cousin Joseph, who stands to inherit in Luke’s stead, have any connections in India.’

  ‘That we know about,’ Charles added grimly. ‘I’ll make a few discreet enquiries.’

  ‘I can’t help wondering why Warburton, if it was he who ordered Luke’s death, went to such elaborate lengths to make it happen.’

  Charles shrugged. ‘Even in India, probing questions would be asked about the disappearance or death of a British earl. It had to seem like a freak accident.’

  ‘Hmm well, make your enquiries,’ Jake said, standing with the intention of re-joining the ladies. ‘But in the meantime let’s hope that Franklin has good fortune this evening and that we will soon know the identity of the person who arranged the abduction of Lady Cantrell’s baby son.’

  Chapter Ten

  When the gentlemen strolled into the drawing room Charles was surprised to find Megan in sole occupation of it.

  ‘Olivia asked if you would join her in her library,’ she said, looking up at Jake and smiling distractedly. ‘There is something she wishes to show you.’

  Jake inclined his head. ‘Then if you will excuse me.’

  Charles watched his friend fight a smile as he left the room, whether in anticipation of stealing a few moments alone with Olivia or because Olivia had jumped to erroneous conclusions and was making a clumsy attempt to leave him and Megan to themselves he couldn’t decide.

  And it would be an erroneous conclusion. Totally without foundation.

  Olivia’s drawing room seemed very quiet with just the two of them in possession of it. He sensed Megan’s melancholy and ached to comfort her. Aware that Olivia had already misunderstood the nature of his relationship with the fragile widow of his friend, Charles wouldn’t act upon his impulse. She was in love with her dead husband’s memory. Until they discovered what had actually caused his death and why, and until they found what had happened to her father, Megan would always be looking backwards.

  ‘How are you?’ he asked softly, taking the chair opposite hers. ‘You have had a terrible shock this evening and look fearfully pale. Is there something I can fetch for your comfort?’

  ‘Thank you, but no.’ She closed her eyes and threw her head back. ‘I am glad I know more about what happened. I think I always suspected there was something else, but I wasn’t ready to confront that possibility.’

  ‘And I have forced you to.’ Charles uttered an oath beneath his breath. ‘I’m a heartless oaf!’

  ‘Oh no!’ Her eyes flew open and she regarded him with transparent gratitude reflected in them. ‘You have been more than kind. I don’t know how I would have managed without your help. You rescued Sebastian‒’

  ‘Not I.’

  ‘He wouldn’t have been found if you hadn’t involved Lord Torbay. And I wouldn’t be safe and living in this comfortable house with a charming lady who I already look upon as a friend, if not for you.’ Her eyes widened as she looked at him, the ever-present film of melancholy preventing them from sparkling as they ought. ‘I am very much obliged to you. I am perfectly sure that you have more pressing matters to attend to, and yet you have devoted all your time since returning to England to my affairs. I don’t know how I shall ever adequately thank you.’

  ‘The only thanks I require is to see you smile spontaneously again.’

  Megan looked taken aback, but not nearly so taken aback as Charles was when the words slipped past his lips, quite without any conscious decision on his part to utter them.

  He watched her as she fiddled with the folds of her borrowed skirts, looking everywhere but at him. It was the tragedy in her eyes when he first saw her in India again after Luke’s death that had persuaded him to offer his help. She was alone with her grief in a strange country with a young baby and little means of support. She was also the widow of an earl and must have seemed like an easy target for the fortune hunters who assumed the earl’s family would pay handsomely for the safe return of the bereaved countess and her baby. Ha! He had also noticed one or two less scrupulous types casting her considering looks, and that had decided him to appointment himself as her guardian, just as any gentleman ought.

  His original intentions had been honourable, but along the way his admiration for her spirit had turned into something more fundamental, damn the inconvenience! If he didn’t have a care, there was a very real danger that his feelings would become irretrievably engaged.

  ‘I shall try to smile, just to please you, Charles.’

  Megan’s soft voice recalled his wandering attention. He resolved not to let her see that he had just made a monumental discovery. Aware that he could do absolutely nothing about it, it would be his cross to bear in stoic solitude.

  ‘I would prefer you to smile simply because you feel like it.’ Charles leaned one elbow on the arm of his chair and propped the side of his face on his clenched fist. ‘I understand that you have little to smile about as things stand, but your circumstances will improve. I give you my word on it.’

  ‘Luke and I were not together for long, but at least we had a few precious months in which to enjoy one another’s society. Some people are never lucky enough to fall in love, much less have their feelings reciprocated. I count myself fortunate to have my memories to fall back on and my beloved son to remind me of his father each time I look at his sweet face.’

  She looked up, and the smile as she spoke of her son lit up her entire face. He had never seen her smile in such a fashion before and was reminded, if any reminder was necessary, why his friend had found her irresistible. There was a susceptibility about her, combined with intelligence and a fierce determination to see her son assume his rightful title and place in society that affected Charles on a level over which he had absolutely no control. He reached for her gloved hand, lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said softly.

  She blinked at him. ‘For what?’

  ‘For making me remember that not everyone in this world is devious or self-centred.’

  ‘You are thinking of the service you provide for the Foreign Department, I would imagine. It follows, I suppose, that you are confronted by deceit and wilful misguidance at every turn, otherwise your talents for getting to the truth wouldn’t be in such demand. I can see that mixing in that murky world for so long has made it hard for you to trust anyone.’ She appeared distracted as she fiddled with the fringe of the shawl she had draped around her shoulders. ‘If you always expect the worse, I imagine the only surprises you have to look forward to are pleasant ones. Even so, and despite all the things that have happened to me, I am not yet ready to look at the world with such a jaundiced eye and hope I never will be.’

  Charles reluctantly released her hand and leaned back in his chair. ‘I hope you never will either,’ he said.

  ‘Talking of your employment, should you not be attending to your duties rather than wasting your time on my affairs?’

  ‘I would not say my time is wasted. Besides, I’m overdue for some leave. The Foreign Department will get along well enough without my questionable assistance.’

  They both fell silent. Only the sound of logs crackling in the fire broke the sudden tension that had arisen between them. Did she feel it too or was it a product of his imagination? He had no way of knowing and couldn’t possibly ask. It was a very bad idea
to be alone with her, even though it was far from the first time he had been, and he wished the others would return.

  Before Charles could think of a different, safer line of conversation, the door opened and a maid stood on the threshold.

  ‘Excuse me, my lady. I didn’t mean to interrupt.’

  Megan was instantly alert. ‘What is it, Jane? Is it Sebastian?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. He’s fractious and won’t settle.’

  Megan was already on her feet. ‘I will come at once. Please excuse me, my lord,’ she said as Charles rose from his chair.

  He watched her go and decided it was just as well since he’d been on the point of making an almighty fool of himself. The ambience, that damned smile, had almost made him forget that she was in love with a ghost.

  ***

  ‘Yes, my love,’ Jake said, joining Olivia in the small salon that doubled as her library. ‘What is it that you wished for me to see?’

  ‘Oh, nothing at all. I just thought we should give Charles and Megan a few minutes alone.’

  Jake wagged a finger at her. ‘Matchmaking, my lovely?’

  ‘Just offering a little encouragement,’ Olivia replied with a sweet smile. ‘It’s obvious that Charles is smitten and Megan could do a great deal worse.’

  ‘I had not noticed Charles’s partiality. I thought he was merely being gallant.’

  ‘Oh, you have not noticed because men simply don’t see what is before their eyes. Well, not when it comes to affairs of the heart.’

  ‘At least you have noticed that I’m a man. I hope the view meets with your approval.’

  Olivia treated him to an exaggerated flutter of her lashes. ‘Fishing for compliments, Lord Torbay?’

  ‘Not in the least. I am simply trying to keep my future countess gratified.’

  ‘I can think of a number of ways in which you can achieve that ambition,’ she replied playfully. ‘I am very easily gratified, you see.’ Jake took the opposite end of the couch to her. She instantly scooted across, planted herself on his knee and wrapped her arms around his neck. The sudden movement caused her skirts to billow over her crinoline petticoats before settling smoothly back into place again. ‘Especially when you favour me with your complete attention.’